Blood Wars by D. Richardson (best affordable ebook reader txt) 📕

“Has anyone fed from him? Does he disappear for a while every night?” I asked in a hushed tone, but from the look on their faces I knew the answer.

“No, someone’s been with him at all times. What do you think it is?” Jess asked.

I had never seen it myself, but I had heard of something like this. Well, not exactly like this, but close. I’ve heard of sadistic vampires that would pick a victim and then prolong their change. Draining and replacing their blood in small amounts over a long period of time.

It was torturous and often led to death for the victim. There body would slowly make the change, but not in the right order. They would end up having the need to feed, but not developing their fangs in time. They would ultimately end up starving to death, before they ever got the chance to save themselves. It was a cruel way to kill a victim.

Looking at him now, it was almost too late. His fangs were close to developing but not close enough. He was close to starving as it was. It explained his lack of appetite and the inability to eat. The fever, the sweat, the lack of feeling. It all fit. The only problem was that he hadn’t been fed from in six months and no other vampire had touched him. He was going through the change for no reason, and it was killing him. Finally, I looked at Jess to answer her question.

“He’s changing.”

“That’s not possible.” Matt said and Nik nodded in agreement. For some reason I got angry.

“Yeah, well a lot of things aren’t possible with him, and yet he still does it all.” I snapped and they flinched. Then I realized it wasn’t anger I was feeling but worry. Then I actually got angry because I was worried about a man that tore my heart out and hated me. I took a deep breath and turned to only person that could help him.

“Belle, I need the coven.” She grimaced but dug her phone out of her pocket. She scrolled through the contacts and selected the right one before handing it over. Before I hit the call button I looked down at him.

He needed blood, but even then it might not be enough. The change could still kill him, mostly because he was still human at the base. Even if the coven agreed to help him, they were still in New Orleans. I might not be able to get him to them in time. The only blood that could give him what he needed and stave off the symptoms of the change. The only blood that could buy him more time was… I looked at Belle, she looked back at me with understanding. She was the only one in the room that really knew what was going on as well as I did.

“I know it’s a lot to ask…” She waved me off, cutting in.

“Don’t worry about it. His pain is your’s and you my good friend will not suffer anymore than he’s already caused.” I gave her a grateful smile as she turned to the rest of my friends. “How many of you know you’re way around a needle?” As she spoke to Matt to tell him what she needed, I hit the call button on her phone.

Someone answered on the fourth ring. I recognized the voice and hesitated for half a second. My family had always been close to the coven. They were like extended family that we only saw once a year or two, but remained in contact all year round.

“Auntie Claire, hi…” I pulled the phone from my ear as she screamed.

“Jaide! Honey where have you been!? I’ve been worried sick!”

“I know and I’m sorry things have been hectic for a while.”

“Yes, I know about your parents, I’m so sorry honey.” I smiled through my sadness.

“Yeah, look Auntie, I need help.”

“You bet your petite ass you do. What are you doing with my runaway daughter anyway.” I sighed.

Belle wasn’t actually her daughter, but Claire was the head of the coven and anyone in it was an extension of her. At least that’s the way she acted. If Belle had actually been related to her I would have met her a long time ago. Belle was just a very powerful and skilled witch that decided to live apart from the coven. A freedom that was given, but frowned upon.

“She’s been helping me, but that’s not what I meant.”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“Um, my, uh, my mate is sick.”

“Oh you mated! I’m so happy for you!.” I closed my eyes tightly before answering.

“Thank you, but I’m worried and this isn’t something I can fix on my own.”

“Well then, tell me what’s going on.”

“He’s human, but he’s going through a prolonged change. I don’t know how,” I said quickly to keep her from interrupted. “but he is. He hasn’t been fed from and we’ve been apart for the last six months. No one has bitten him or tried to change him. Apparently it’s been going on for the last couple weeks, and none of us know how or why, but he doesn’t have much longer.” The line was silent and I began to wonder if the call was dropped or if she had hung up on me. Neither was unheard of.

“Bring him to me.” Was the only thing that she said, and her tone was serious, something that was rarely heard of. It meant she knew what was happening and how to fix it.

“We’ll be there in three days.” She hung up and I handed the phone back to Belle. She took it awkwardly, seeing as how she had a tube running out of her good arm.

“Now what?” Matt asked, as he watched Belle’s blood run from her arm to an empty water bottle. All of us were on the run from something, we didn’t exactly have a lot of high tech equipment.

“Now we figure out how to get a pack of werewolves, a group of renegade vampire hunters, and the eight of us to New Orleans within the next three days.”

“Nine.” Belle said as Matt took the needle out of her arm. She winced but met my eyes.

“Are you sure?” She shrugged as she waved off his attempt to bandage her arm.

“Yeah, I haven’t seen the family in a while.”

“They may not be willing to let you leave.” I warned, I had a better understanding of the inner workings of the coven than most. She scoffed.

“Like they could stop me.” I shrugged, there was no point in arguing with her.

“What about me?” Kathy asked. She had been standing in the corner out of the way, I had almost forgotten she was even there.

“You’re going to stay here.”

“But…” I held up a hand to cut her off.

“This is much deeper than just knowing that we exist. People are going to get hurt, and as mean as it sounds, we can take care of ourselves, while you can’t. Instead, you’re going to stay in this apartment, while we’re gone. The bills are paid up for the next couple of months. And I’ve got some friends looking out for you. But do not, and I mean do not, trust every vampire that talks to you. And more importantly, don’t let anyone feed from you. You have my number, if a vampire comes up to you, get there name and text me. If I say that I don’t know them, get the hell out of there. And under no circumstances do you bring them here.” I put my hands on her small shoulders. She was scared. We had been here for her, protecting her, for several months now. And now that we were leaving she was on her own. “Do you understand?” I asked softly.

“But if I do come across a vampire that you don’t know, how do I stop them if they want to feed from me?” She asked tentatively. I turned to Nikolai, and bless him, he knew what I wanted.

He grabbed a bag that I hadn’t noticed before and rummaged through it, before getting up and handing me a small hand gun, along with several small clips. I had no idea what make or model it was, I generally had no use for the things. I was much more dangerous with out it. I grabbed her hand and placed the weapon in her palm.

“If any vampire tries to touch you, you empty a clip into them. Head, chest, and neck. Don’t be stingy with the bullets. As soon as you’re free, run like hell.” She nodded hesitantly, and I motioned for Nik to teach her how to use it, without shooting herself.

I turned to the rest of the room. They were all looking at me expectantly. Everyone but Belle. I resisted the urge to sigh. I had not missed being the one to always have to come up with a plan. I had enjoyed the time I had had when I didn’t have to worry about anything more than deciding what to wear.

“So, how do we get everyone across the country? Anyone? I’m open to all ideas here.” I said kneeling down on the floor. Everyone else had taken couch and any other seats I had.

“Do we have enough money to fly?” Lexi asked. It was a good idea, and quick, but there was no way they would let Devon on a plane. When I said as much Sam spoke up.

“We could drive. It would take the full three days, with everyone taking turns, but we could do it.”

“Exactly how many of you are here?” I asked, it all depended on how many vehicles we had, and needed.

“There are thirteen from the guard.” Matt said and turned to Sam for the number of wolves.

“About twenty wolves.” He said wincing. I sighed.

“So we have to find enough vehicles to transport,” I did the math really quick in my head. “forty two of us. Plus, one that can’t be out in the sunlight.” I ran a hand down my face.

“It sucks being the only bitten vampire.” Jess mumbled and I chuckled.

“If we can get at least one SUV that can seat us, and we can rig the back to have complete darkness.

“More like a Suburban. And those are really bad on gas.”

“Not necessarily. An SUV with two bench seats would do, but the back would be really cramped.” Scotty answered, looking at Jess. She would be the one cramped. She shrugged in response.

“I can handle that for a few days.”

“Great, now all we need to do is find a way to transport the other thirty three people following us.” Then something occurred to me. “Wait, how did you all get here?”

“The wolves spent most of the time in their wolf form, and mostly stuck to the wooded areas. You should have seen the looks on some of the human’s faces when they had to run out in the open. The humans and those of us with an aversion to sunlight had to drive. We have four SUV’s a few miles out of town. That‘s part of what took us so long to find you. We had to stick close to the wolves.” Scotty answered.

“So you already have a car equipped for Jess?” Several nods answered me. “Then we just have to lift one of the seats in the one that you used, and find at least two more vehicles. With five of them we could reseat a couple people and it wouldn’t be so cramped in ours.” The looks on their faces told me that they didn’t agree.

“There is no way I’m riding with those creepy ass wolves, no offense.” Matt said and added the last for Sam’s benefit. “I thought vampires were creepy, but the wolves are just weird. Nice but weird.” I already knew the answer from